Photo: all colour photos are believed to be by John Thiele, but I may be incorrect - if so, would the photgrapher please
identify him/herself to me

Everyone's 27 July, 1927

The 1993-seat Ambassador's Theatre, Perth, was Australia's second
"atmospheric" theatre; it was preceded by the Capitol, Sydney, which had
opened earlier in 1928. Stuart Doyle, Head of Union Theatres, had visited
America the previous year earlier, and had imported the designs from John
Eberson; they were adapted as necessary by Union's architect Henry White.

Everyone's, 18 May, 1927

Henry White certainly did not have much time to prepare the design for the
Ambassador's, for only two months after inspecting the Riveria Theatre, Omaha,
plans were ready for both the Capitol, Sydney, and the Ambassador's. The
theory that the interior designs were imported from Eberson's office in their
entirety and merely tweaked as necessary for their Australian locations, thus
seems entirely credible. The external facade that was built was different from
that shown on the plan above.

The Capitol, Sydney, opened on 7 April, 1928, thus releasing technical staff to
work on the Ambassador's:

Everyone's 4 April, 1928

The Ambassador's opened on 29 September, 1928:

Everyone's 10 October, 1928

The architectural firm of Bohringer, Taylor and Johnson, provided some
interesting comments on the Ambassador's and its construction:

The Ambassador's organ was described in the theatre's opening brochure as
being" the largest Wurlitzer in Australia".[Ross Thorne, "Cinemas of Australia via USA", p. 75.]This
was technically correct, in that it was equal in size to the other Style 260 organs
already playing at the Capitols in Melbourne and Sydney and the Regent in
Adelaide.

The plans for the Ambassador's did not intially include an organ:

"Everyone's", 20 June, 1928, p.6

The organ was Opus 1902, a Style 260 Wurlitzer, with fifteen ranks of pipes and a
3-manual scroll-style console. Its specification may be found here. It was the
same as the organ at the Capitol, Sydney, in the latter's original form.

As reported above, Leslie Waldron was the opening organist, whose
performance of "The Lost Chord" was well received by the audience.

Les Waldron on the Wurlitzer also maintains popularity
with his host of admirers. Sunday night musicales on
the radio have heightened the popularity of both
orchestra and organ ["Everyone's", 29 January, 1930, p. 18]

Subsequent organists included Bernie Randall, Jimmie
Miller and Reubert Hayes.[Max Bell, correspondence 30 October, 1975]
During the 1930s, organists frequently "doubled" at the
both the Ambassador's and the Regent.

The orchestra was dispensed with in 1931, and the
theatre was closed for some months in late 1932,
because of falling audience numbers. It reopened in
January, 1933, by which time Hoyts and Union Theatres
had merged to form the combine General Theatres
Corporation. When the combine split up in 1937, the
Ambassador's came under the control of Hoyt's. [Les Tod &
Kevin Cork, "The Dream Palaces, Part 1 - The Atmospherics", Sydney, 1988, p.13]

Hoyt's did not have the same affection for atmospheric
theatres as did Union, and in 1938, much of the interior
fittings disappeared. Virtually everything that was not a
permanent fixture - doves, statues, etc. - was removed. At
the same time, the exterior was redesigned in "moderne"
style.

Photo: West Australian Newspapers

"The Broadcaster" 19/9/42

The organ remained until 1946, when it was removed and used to form the core
of the new instrument built for the rebuilt Regent, Melbourne that opened in 1947.

A grand piano was placed on the organ console lift platform.

In the 1960s, John Furhmann played a Lowrey organ which was "hooked up to a
huge ancillary back stage sound system and Leslie speaker. It was a great
sound. We used the set up for a number of the James Bond movies (Goldfinger
etc)."[e-mail from John Furhmann, March, 2002]